FSU's Nick Waisome up for whatever challenges he faces in 2014

Brendan Sonnone, Orlando Sentinel

TALLAHASSEE — Nick Waisome walked into his home to find no television and two strangers.

A fight-or-flight response set in for the Florida State cornerback. As the men approached him, Waisome said he backed out of his apartment and ran to the back of the complex. There, he got into a tussle with one of the robbers.

That man initially got away as Waisome turned his attention to his counterpart running down the street. Waisome chased after him, preventing the man from escaping as police reached the scene.

"'I'm a little bit hurt, but I'm going to do the best I can,'" Waisome told the Sentinel he thought to himself. "I don't back down from a challenge. I saw the challenge and I went and got it."

Both alleged burglars were eventually arrested, according to multiple reports.

Waisome has been presented with many challenges during his time in Tallahassee and his never-back-down philosophy has served him well. Entering his senior season, Waisome's career is marked by fluctuating playing time, going from a full-time starter in 2012 to a lightly-used backup last season. With an understanding that playing time could either be scarce or plentiful in 2014, Waisome is making it a point to end his playing career at FSU on his own terms.

Playing big

Waisome was undersized, average receiver as a sophomore at Groveland South Lake High.

It was at a combine in Tampa where Terrance Larmond, then a South Lake assistant, first noticed Waisome's fluidity as he worked at cornerback. Former South Lake head coach Walter Banks OK'd Waisome's switch from receiver to defensive back as a junior, and soon Larmond and Waisome trained together every day after school.

"He's the hardest working kid I've ever coached," Larmond said. "He had friends that lived on lakes that'd be going to Daytona Beach and he skipped all that stuff to come and train."

Waisome was about 5-foot-10 and maybe 170 pounds soaking wet in high school. Banks recalls the drastic size differential between Waisome and elite receivers from across the region he'd line up against during prospect camps and combines.

"To be honest, I thought they were going to demolish him. But he jammed them on the line," said Banks, who referred to Waisome as a fiercely competitive 'technician'.

Waisome, at least momentarily, defused concerns about his size. He became one of the top-rated cornerback prospects in the country and eventually chose FSU over Florida.

Bad draw

After playing sparingly as a freshman at FSU, Waisome became a focal point in fall camp following the abrupt dismissal of incumbent starter Greg Reid shortly. Those who followed the team wondered how Waisome would hold up.

Waisome started all 14 games and provided stability for a secondary that went on to lead the country in passing yards allowed per game and opposing passer rating. The highlight of the season came when he held heralded Clemson wide out Sammy Watkins to 24 receiving yards and had a game-sealing interception.

"I wasn't planning to play that much because I thought Greg was going to be in front of me," Waisome said. "Being thrown in the fire, I think I learned a lot."

But Waisome never had a chance to build off that.

Defensive coordinator Mark Stoops left to become the head coach at Kentucky that offseason, and FSU hired Jeremy Pruitt to replace him and install a new defensive philosophy. Pruitt's scheme called for taller, rangier corners. Some quickness was sacrificed for size and Waisome was promptly passed over by Ronald Darby and P.J. Williams, who are both garnering buzz as potential first-round draft picks.

"After talking to some other coaches on the staff… they said he never had an opportunity because he didn't fit the mold of guys that coach Pruitt likes," Larmond said. "He got a bad draw. It happens sometimes."

Waisome was relegated to a special-teams specialist last season. Banks and Waisome's father proposed the idea of transferring so he could find playing time as a senior.

"There were a lot of things I could've done," Waisome said. "When I sat down and thought about it, I thought of my recruitment here, I thought about when I told Jimbo [Fisher] when I was coming here instead of Florida. I meant what I said when I said I was coming here for four years.

One of the first players Kelly talked to upon receiving the promotion was Waisome, who has already graduated and is now working on his master's degree, according to Larmond.

"Coach Kelly told him he was a priority to stay and a guy he thought could help him out," Larmond said. "He's confident he'll have an opportunity to play every day."

Waisome (5-10, 182) has gained 12 pounds since last season in order to fit FSU's new defensive approach. He worked with the first team for most of fall camp with starters Williams and Darby hampered by pulled hamstrings. Fisher and teammates have consistently praised Waisome for his ability to seamlessly step in and play at a high level, giving the Seminoles confidence that there wouldn't be a drastic drop off if one of their starters went down with an injury.

One of the more bizarre issues surrounding Waisome last summer, aside from the burglary, was his squabble with then senior linebacker Dan Hicks over who would wear No. 6. Waisome already changed his jersey several times to accommodate other defensive players during his career and eventually wore No. 14 as he deferred to Hicks.

He's wearing the No. 6 again this preseason, but so is heralded freshman linebacker Matthew Thomas.

"I'm pretty sure everybody thinks I'm going to lose it again, but I ain't backing down this time. I'm not," Waisome said. "The number doesn't really make the player, so I don't really care about that. But I'm not trying to back down. I'm not backing down."